March 21, 2020
#29 MARCH 16-22, JACOB 5-7
Hold on! The earth is shaking!
As I was kneeling by the couch in our family room this morning (Wednesday, March 18) to say my morning prayer, the house began to shake and I heard a loud noise. At first, I thought it was the wind, but the trees weren’t moving. I realized it was an earthquake, the strongest one I’ve ever felt. The chandelier in the dining room was swaying back and forth and the pendulum on the grandfather clock was banging on the inside of the clock housing.
On top of coronavirus (COVID-19) and all of its fallout, life feels pretty fragile and off balance right now. Aren’t we grateful for the gospel in our lives and our knowledge of the Plan of Salvation? What would we do if didn’t believe in a loving Father in Heaven or know of His plan? Life would be pretty scary! But, that doesn’t mean that it will all be easy, that none of us will become infected with coronavirus or that there won’t be an even bigger earthquake still to come. There is no promise that we will not experience adversity in this life, even if we do believe and try to do what is right. To the contrary, … for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rainon the just and on the unjust. (Matt 5:45).
And aren’t we grateful for a living prophet, President Russell M. Nelson! His timing was amazing last Saturday when he sent out a message to the members of the Church in which he expressed optimism and hope for the future. I suspect that message was played in the homes of millions of Latter-day Saints worldwide as they held “church” in their homes for the first time last Sunday. He said (in part):
My beloved brothers and sisters, we are living in a remarkable age when we constantly see the hand of the Lord in the lives of His children. Our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, know us, love us and are watching over us. Of that, we can be certain. At the same time, as you are well aware, we as a global Church are facing a unique challenge. … These unique challenges will pass in due time. I remain optimistic for the future. I know the great and marvelous blessings that God has in store for those who love Him and serve Him. I see evidence of His hand in this holy work in so many ways. So, during these uncertain times, be comforted by this promise from the Savior. He said, “I the Lord am bound when ye do what I say.” I promise you that joy is always within the reach of everyone who will hear Him and obey His laws. … I love you. I pray for you. And I promise that you will receive comfort and peace as you continue to hear Him.
If you missed it, here is the link to the video of his message: https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/president-nelson-message-covid-19
Yes, these are challenging times, but (as we used to say in football), “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.” I hope we can follow the invitation of our prophet to “love [the Lord] and serve Him.” I know that, as we do, we’ll be able to deal with the challenges that surround us and will have hope and optimism, like our Prophet, for the future. There is a powerful message in the reading for this week related to this subject, so let’s get started.
Chapter 5
Jacob, Zenos, Joseph Smith and Olive Trees
At the end of Chapter 4, Jacob is talking about the stiffneckedness of the Jews, how they “look beyond the mark” and have rejected Christ, the stone upon which they might build and have safe foundation, the stone which shall become the great, and the last, and the only sure foundation, upon which the Jews can build. (4:15-16). He then asks the question, How is it possible that these, after having rejected the sure foundation, can ever build upon it, that it may become the head of their corner? (v. 17) In an attempt to answer his own question, he tells (and writes) the allegory of the Olive Tree from the prophet Zenos.
This leads to chapter 5, the longest chapter in the Book of Mormon. Can you imagine how long it took Jacob to inscribe this allegory onto the Small Plates? How many bike rides and pickleball games did he miss writing this one chapter? How many times was he late for dinner? I can’t imagine. And how long did it take Joseph to translate and Oliver to write this chapter? And we complain about reading it because it is long.
My good friend King Udall shared with me the following insight:
One other comment on next week’s study of Jacob 5 regarding the Olive Tree Allegory. I find it helpful to put in perspective how much time was available to Joseph Smith to write this marvelous metaphor.
According to Dr. John Welch in his study “The Miraculous Timing of the Translation of the Book of Mormon” in which he gives the timeline for the actual days the Book was translated between April 7 to June 30, 1829, he theorizes that Joseph translated Jacob chapters 1-5 in ONE DAY—June 26th! Under the constraints of this rigid time frame Joseph must have written this complex metaphor steeped in tremendous meaning regarding the diaspora and gathering of the Israelite nation in less than 1-2 hours. This fact alone is another verification of Joseph’s claim that the Book of Mormon was translated by the “gift and power of God”.
Incredible! Joseph was working without notes, reference material, or research assistant. Oliver was working without a computer, word processor or even a typewriter. And together they produced this chapter with nothing but the plates, the interpreters (including Joseph’s seer stone), pen, ink and paper in 1-2 hours! It will take me several times that long to write my blog post for this week and they translated and wrote at that pace day after day for a little over 60 working days. How in the world can critics claim that the Book of Mormon was produced by any means other than by the gift and power of God? No one could produce on their own this one chapter in so short a time with no outside resources. This chapter, Jacob 5, is enough to convince me that Joseph Smith was translating from an ancient record and not creating a work of his own. And to claim that this chapter was plagiarized from the Spaulding Manuscript or from View of the Hebrews or any other contemporary source is ridiculous! If the critics would just read the Book of Mormon itself with anything like an open mind, they would come to know of its veracity.
Another aspect of this allegory that is powerful evidence of its source in antiquity is the insight it reveals into the process of raising olive trees. There is only one person in the chain of authors who brought us this allegory who could have known anything about growing olive trees. It had to be Zenos! It was thought for centuries that olive trees only grew within sight of the Mediterranean Sea. They have now been successfully grown in limited locations in South America (Chile) and in Southern California. Joseph Smith was living in upstate New York. Though a farmer, he could have known nothing about how to grow olive trees. And Jacob was born after the family left Jerusalem. He certainly didn’t learn about growing olive trees in the Arabian desert. What he knew about them, he must have learned from his father and older brothers. Nephi probably read this allegory with him from the Plates of Brass and explained about olive trees and how this fits so well. We have no evidence in the Book of Mormon record that the Lehi colony brought olive trees with them to the Promised Land or that they found olive trees when they got there. So Zenos must be the source of the allegory.
There is other evidence from study of word patterns that Zenos must be the source of the allegory. Brother John Welch included in his notes for this week’s reading at Book of Mormon Central the following interesting information:
I went through and tabulated how many vocabulary words we have in this lengthy chapter. There is a very small vocabulary to this allegory, but it is also a very distinctive vocabulary. There are 30 phrases or expressions in Jacob 5 that never appear again anywhere in the Standard Works. There are 21 further expressions that are found in Jacob 5 and in other Old Testament texts, but which don’t show up in the New Testament, and so on. As a whole, Zenos’s vocabulary does not belong to any other writer known to us in the scriptures. This writing style is just one more important indication that this exquisite prophetic text was not written by anyone other than Zenos. It is an inspired work of a person who lived long ago, probably lived in Palestine somewhere, and was filled with a deep understanding of the mission and the plan of God for the House of Israel. Zenos embedded that synoptic vision in an elegant allegory that endures and continues to inspire us today in many ways. What a gem this great allegory is!
Pres. Joseph Fielding Smith wrote about this allegory or parable (as he calls it):
The parable of Zenos, recorded by Jacob in chapter five of his book, is one of the greatest parables ever recorded. This parable in and of itself stamps the Book of Mormon with convincing truth. No mortal man, without the inspiration of the Lord, could have written such a parable. It is a pity that too many of those who read the Book of Mormon pass over and slight the truths which it conveys in relation to the history, scattering, and final gathering of Israel (Answers to Gospel Questions, comp. Joseph Fielding Smith Jr., 5 vols. [1957–66], 4:141).
Who was Zenos?
So who was Zenos? You won’t find him in the Bible. For that reason, he isn’t even listed in the LDS Bible Dictionary. In their Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Millet and McConkie write of Zenos:
Who was Zenos and why did the Nephite prophets quote him so frequently? It would appear that Zenos was one of the prophets whose oracles were recorded on the brass plates. He would have lived some time before Lehi, probably in the northern tribes of Israel before the Assyrian captivity of the Ten Tribes. “I do not think I overstate the matter,” explained Elder Bruce R. McConkie, “when I say that next to Isaiah himself—who is the prototype, pattern, and model for all the prophets—there was not a greater prophet in all Israel than Zenos” (from Monte S. Nyman and Robert L. Millet, eds., The Joseph Smith Translation: The Restoration of Plain and Precious Things, p. 17).
Like Isaiah, Zenos spoke repeatedly of the Savior—his prophecies were specific gospel-centered and Christ-centered statements. He also spoke much of the destiny of the house of Israel, of which the Nephites were an important branch (see, for example, 1 Nephi 19:10–16; Jacob 5; Alma 33:3–14; Helaman 8:20). Zenos was probably of the tribe of Joseph, in which case he would be an ancient kinsman to the Nephites (3 Nephi 10:16).
It appears that Zenos and this allegory were well known to the Israelite people. Jacob begins the allegory by saying my brethren, do ye not remember to have read the words of the prophet Zenos, which he spake unto the house of Israel, (v. 1). This is not a new story for them. They have heard it before and he is reminding them. And yet he feels that it is worth the effort to record this allegory on Small Plates. I suspect he was writing more for us than his immediate audience. The longest section of the allegory deals with our time (see below). If he were writing only for his people, he would not have gone into so much detail. But he knows that we won’t know about how olive trees grow, so he gives us the whole story as told by Zenos.
Other resources
Let me stop at this point and give you some other resources to use in your study and teaching of Jacob Chapter 5 and the Allegory of the Olive Tree. There are many places where you can get good help and insights.
You can begin with the chapter in Come, Follow Me for Individuals and Families. It is brief, but helpful. I’ll paste a chart from that a little later. You have access to that in the Gospel Library app on your phone or tablet or here is the link for a computer: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/come-follow-me-for-individuals-and-families-book-of-mormon-2020/12?lang=eng
As you know, I often quote from the Commentary mentioned above by Robert Millet and Joseph F. McConkie. It is available at Deseret Book.com. I use the e-book version and go back and forth between the e-book on the Deseret Bookshelf app and the Gospel Library app on my iPad. It works great! They have many insights into this chapter and, for that matter, into the whole Book of Mormon. Their Commentary is in four volumes. It’s a project to read, but worth it!
Book of Mormon Central has two excellent resources to help you with these chapters, especially chapter 5. The first is the weekly podcast by Tyler Griffin and Taylor Halverson. I found it very good in understanding this allegory. It is about 45 minutes long. Here is the YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAMJ2YvrjdY
The notes by John Welch, which I quoted from above, is also available at Book of Mormon Central and are also helpful. Brother Welch was co-editor of a major book about the Zenos Allegory, so has excellent insights. You can get the reference from his notes. Here is a link to his notes: https://archive.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/jacob-5-7
Finally, there is a wonderful resource available from a source about which many of you will not be aware. Our neighboring stake, the Salt Lake Olympus Stake, has had a Tuesday morning scripture class for sisters for several years. It has excellent instructors from within the stake and is well-attended. They don’t invite brethren, but I attended once when one of our daughters was a guest instructor. But for several years, I’ve downloaded and listened to the lessons after they are given. A remarkable teacher, Rebekah Ellsworth, a single sister (at the time. She is now married with a new last name.) who has taught in the CES program and has an amazing fund of knowledge and ability to teach, gave the most helpful and illuminating lesson about Jacob chapter 5 that I have ever heard. I’m sure that what I write in this blog post will be heavily influenced by her lesson. I’ve listened to it several times. It is a little over an hour long and she talks pretty fast, but it is worth it. In fact, if you have to choose between reading any farther in this blog post or listening to Rebekah, you probably ought to listen to her. Anyhow, here is the link: https://scriptureclass.com/2018/01/jan-9-2018-jacob-5-7-by-bekah-ellsworth
You can play the podcast directly from the link or download the file and import to a music listening app on your device and listen at your convenience.
Three perspectives on the Zenos Allegory
From my reading and study, I’d like to divide our discussion of the Zenos Allegory in Jacob Chapter 5 into three parts, examining it from three perspectives – (1) the tree, (2) the Lord of the Vineyard and (3) our own lives. Each perspective is meaningful. I hope this will be interesting and useful to you.
But first we need to know the “names and numbers of the players”. (Sorry, I don’t know if that translates into UK vernacular. In America, young boys used to walk up and down the aisles of a baseball or other sports game selling programs that contained “the names and numbers of all the players.” Today you can get that information from the huge scoreboards that are found in most stadiums and arenas. Now those boys sell hot dogs, cotton candy or ice cream.) So who are the “players” in this allegory? And what is an allegory, anyhow?
Definitions
Allegory – What is an allegory? One of the most common figures of speech for millennia has been the simile. A simile is an expression of relationship between two or more things, a comparison being made generally through the use of such words as like or as. Thus the expressions “Joseph Smith spoke like thunder,” or “Brigham Young is like a lion,” or “The Savior’s voice is as the sound of the rushing of great waters,” are all similes. A metaphor is a similar expression, usually without like or as to denote likeness. Thus the expressions “The Lord is my shepherd,” or “Christ is the rock of Israel,” or “Harold B. Lee is a pillar,” are all metaphors. A parable is an extended simile. An allegory is an extended metaphor. Occasionally the words parable and allegory are used interchangeably.
Millet & McConkie, Commentary
The Vineyard – The vineyard is the world, all the places where the children of God are found on this earth.
The Lord of the Vineyard – The Lord of the Vineyard may either be our Father in Heaven or Jesus Christ. Allegories and parables are symbolic and may have multiple interpretations and meanings, so either may be correct and have something to teach us. I talk more about this later.
The Servant – Similarly, the servant has more than one interpretation. If the Lord of the Vineyard is our Father in Heaven, then the servant is the Savior, Jesus Christ. But if Christ is the Lord of the Vineyard, then the servant represents His prophet(s) through the ages.
The Olive Tree – The Olive Tree is most commonly interpreted to be the House of Israel, the covenant people of the Lord. From Millet & McConkie:
Why would Zenos choose an olive tree to typify Israel? What is the significance of an olive tree? No tree was more important to the economy and culture of the Middle East: it was a fruit whose meat, oil, and seed were all consumed, utilized, or traded. It was and is a tree known to all persons. The olive tree is a natural symbol or metaphor for Israel. It requires almost constant care before its fruit will have a texture and taste that is acceptable; continued pruning and digging and fertilization are essential before proper growth and fruitage can take place. The olive tree lives for centuries and almost never dies. Many of the older olive trees, for example, in what is believed today to have been the Garden of Gethsemane, would probably have been roots in the days when Jesus and his Apostles walked and talked and prayed there almost two thousand years ago.
As we will later see, the Olive Tree may also represent each of us.
The Fruit – The fruit of the Olive Tree is the olive (go figure!). And what is so special about olives? Again from the Millet & McConkie Commentary:
“Olive oil,” wrote Truman G. Madsen, “was used both internally and externally. It was a cooking oil, made better by heating, and was a condiment for salads and breads and meats. The pure oil had other vital uses: it was an almost universal antidote, reversing the effects of a variety of poisons. It was often used in a poultice believed to drain infection or sickness. As an ointment, olive oil—mingled with other liquids—soothed bruises and wounds and open sores.” Further, “the image of pouring oil on troubled waters, and the associated olive branch of peace—such as the offering of peace and relief to Noah after raging seas—were common in Bible lore. In other spiritual contexts oil was the token of forgiveness. And hence Paul speaks of it as ‘the oil of gladness.’ “ (“The Olive Press,” Ensign, December 1982, pp. 58–59.)
Thus the olive tree—the fruit of which is a symbol of light, peace, healing, nourishment, and of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit—lends itself naturally to a representation of a people ordained, even in the councils of heaven, to a mission as vessels of spiritual light and peace and healing and nourishment, and of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to all the world. Such was the covenant God made with Abraham.
The fruit of the Olive Tree may also represent our lives and what we do to serve God and build His Kingdom.
The story of an olive tree
Let me try to tell you the story of this allegory in my own words.
In this extended allegory, Zenos tells the story of an olive tree which once produced good (tame) fruit, but grows old and begins to produce bad (wild) fruit. The tree is precious to the gardener who has done all he could for the tree and doesn’t want to lose a valuable tree. So he nourishes the tree and digs around it so the roots will get nourishment. The branches on top begin to die, but there are some new branches growing lower on the tree. Understanding how olive trees grow and survive, he cuts off the old branches on top and burns them. He takes some young branches from other trees, even though they are wild, and grafts them into the mother tree to preserve the roots. He also takes some of the young branches of the tree and plants them in other parts of his vineyard to grow. Some of the places he plants them are better than others, but, true to their nature, the transplanted branches grow in each location, regardless of where they are planted.
After a long time, the gardener and his servant come back to the vineyard and find that the branches from wild trees that he had grafted to the mother tree are bearing good fruit which is like the original fruit of the tree. He also visits the branches he has planted in other parts of the vineyard and they are all growing, even the ones planted in the poorer places. One of the transplants, planted in a good place, is doing something most unusual for olive trees – only half of the tree is bearing good fruit and the other half bad fruit. The gardener wants to cut off the branches producing bad fruit, but his servant encourages him to nourish the tree a little longer, so he does.
Another long time passes. The gardener and his servant visit the vineyard again. The mother tree is bringing forth all kinds of fruit but none of it is good. The same is true with the other trees which grew from the transplants. And the wild part of the tree in the good place has overcome the tame part of the tree. The gardener weeps because all of his trees are corrupt. He asks his servant, “What more could I have done for my vineyard?” His servant tells him that it’s because the branches have overcome the roots. Olive trees only grow well and produce good fruit if the branches and the roots are balanced. So the gardener cuts the most bitter branches from the original tree and in their place he grafts in some branches from the transplanted trees from other parts of the garden. He also takes some better branches of the original tree and grafts them into the transplanted trees scattered through out the garden. He trims up the branches of all his trees.
The gardener tells his servant to call other servants to help and they all work together in the vineyard to graft, trim, and nourish all the trees. They work together trimming out the corrupt branches and nourishing those that are bringing fruit, grafting between the trees in the reverse order of how they were originally transplanted. The last ones, he grafts first and the first ones, he grafts last. Eventually all of the bad is removed and only good trees remain in the garden and bear good fruit. The gardener is very pleased with his garden!
The gardener knows that after a long time, wild fruit will again grow in his vineyard. He tells his servant that, when that happens, they will gather all the fruit and save the good and cast away the evil. He will then burn his garden.
That may not be perfect, but it’s a fairly good approximation of the story of the olive tree as told by Zenos. If you are teaching this allegory, you can read what I wrote or, better yet, tell the story to your family in your own words. So what does it all mean?
Interpretation of the Allegory
There may be more written about this chapter than any single chapter in the Book of Mormon. There is no way to capture all of it here. Let me give you some clues to help you in your reading.
The Come, Follow Me manual has a brief but helpful outline of the general events and time frames represented by the allegory. Here is how the manual breaks down the chapter:
· Verses 3–14.The scattering of Israel before the time of Christ
· Verses 15–28.The ministry of Christ and the Apostles
· Verses 29–49.The Great Apostasy
· Verses 50–76.The gathering of Israel in the latter days
· Verses 76–77.The Millennium and end of the world
With that simple framework, let me try to retell the story applying it to the House of Israel. I won’t try to give all the details, just the basics. Again, when teaching this, you could read this or tell it in your own words to your family.
After the children of Israel were led out of Egypt by Moses and wandered 40 years in the wilderness of Sinai, they were finally allowed into their promised land, the land promised to Abraham and his descendants. They are “planted” in what is now Israel. The mother tree is the house of Israel. The first timeframe is from when they arrive in the promised land until after the last prophets of the Old Testament. During this time, some other peoples start to intermarry and become part of Israel and some groups are led away, including the Northern Ten Tribes in 721 BC; Lehi & Ishmael and their families in 600 BC; Mulek and his family shortly after that and the Jews into Babylon in 587 BC. We don’t know where the Ten Tribes were “planted”, but they are undoubtedly represented by the branches that were planted in the “nethermost” parts of the vineyard. We do know where Lehi, Ishmael and Mulek were planted and that it was a “good” spot of land. There may have been many groups led away from Israel, as suggested by the Savior’s words to the Nephites when He visited them that He had even “other sheep” to visit. (See 3 Nephi 16:1-3).
At the time of Christ and His apostles, the main tree of Israel had become wicked but He initiated a dispensation that saw many “gentile” converts come into His church, Christianity. The same thing happened in the promised land among the Nephites and presumably among His other sheep, whom He also visited.
After centuries, though, the Great Apostasy had occurred and the Church, priesthood and true gospel was lost from all the world. None of the trees bore good fruit. Eventually, the Restoration occurred in the dispensation in which we live. The Lord is working with His servants – missionaries, leaders and us – to gather all of Israel. He is first gathering His people from “Gentile” nations and they are joining His church – our ancestors and those who are still accepting the gospel and being “gathered” to the Saints, wherever they live. Eventually, the Jews, who were the first to have the Gospel, will be gathered by accepting their true Messiah.
In the Millennium the Savior will come and reign “personally upon the earth” (A of F 10) and a long season of peace and productivity for the children of Israel will ensue. Children will be born and grow up with a knowledge of the gospel. The veil will be very porous so that sacred ordinances can be performed for those waiting in the spirit world by those living on this earth. Eventually, as happened after the 200 years of peace that followed the Savior’s visit to the Nephites, the people will begin to be proud and reject the true gospel. Their hearts will change and Satan will be loosed. In the end, the world will be burned. Only those living the celestial law will survive and the earth will become a celestial kingdom where they will live in glory for eternity.
This story is incredible! And it’s our story as part of the house of Israel. Do you see now why Jacob took the time to record this allegory on the plates? It is the best description in all of scripture of the story of the house of Israel. Thank you, Jacob! And thank you Zenos for first recording this inspired allegory.
The Lord of the Vineyard
Having told the story of the tree and applied it to the house of Israel, let's now turn to the Lord of the Vineyard, the gardener, and see what we can learn. As I said earlier, because this allegory is symbolic language, the Lord of the Vineyard could be the Father or the Son. I’m not sure it matters. In the creation story as told in Abraham (and other places), it is always “the Gods” who are working together. (See Abraham 4). When we use the word Lord it can refer to the Father or the Son, so we’ll use that word in talking about the Lord of the Vineyard.
As you read Jacob 5, the most important things to recognize about the Lord of the vineyard is how much He loves His trees, especially the one the story is about, and how hard He works to save them. It is interesting to do a word search in Jacob 5 for verbs that reflect the efforts of the Lord of the vineyard for His trees. Here is my unofficial count of some of the action words in this chapter: nourish (22), dig (7), dung (3), prune (9), cut (1), pluck (9), cast (16), graft (23), watch (1).
The list isn’t exhaustive, but you get the idea. The gardener, the Lord of the vineyard, is actively involved in the work in His vineyard. He is not an absentee landlord leaving the work to others. This is a powerful message of how much the Lord is involved in this Church and its restoration, which began with Joseph Smith 200 years ago and continues today. The Lord inspires and helps every leader, teacher, ministering brother or sister and member who has the faith and humility to rely on Him and be guided by His spirit. His work is not done; He is still doing it and will continue to be actively engaged in the work of gathering His children to the house of Israel until the work is done. President Nelson has said that the gathering of Israel is “the most important thing taking place on earth today.” (See “Gathering Israel through Ministering”, Ensign, Jan 2020).
The Lord is directing the work of gathering through His prophets, apostles and leaders. And we are privileged, like the servants who were called to help in the vineyard when it was pruned and nourished for the last time, to assist in this great work. The most important part of the gathering of Israel that we do is within the walls of our own homes beginning with ourselves first and our own families (even though some of us are a “family” of one). From the small circle of our home and family, we extend our gathering efforts to those in our neighborhoods, wards, branches, stakes, districts and missions and from there across the whole world in an expanding circle of concern. We’ll discuss this concept more next week when we talk about Enos.
As we read this allegory, we can’t help but be touched by the love the Lord of the vineyard has for His trees. On three occasions He asks His servant what He could have done more. And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard wept, and said unto the servant: What could I have done more for my vineyard? (v. 41, see also vs. 47 and 49) This allegory teaches us that our Father in Heaven and His Son, Jesus Christ, despite the scope of Their creations and ministry, are concerned with every tree in the vineyard and are pained when any tree brings forth bad fruit. Not only do They love this Church, but They love us. We are Their trees. This world is Their vineyard.
Notice that in verse 74 they became like unto one body. That refers to the tree and its grafted branches. But it may also refer to the Lord and His servants as they labor together in the vineyard. He is with us. We are His servants. As we labor in His vineyard, He is near us. … for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up. (D&C 84:88) He is with his servants as we labor with Him in His vineyard!
Each of us is the tree!
A third way to look at the Zenos Allegory in Jacob Chapter 5 is to liken the scriptures unto us (1 Nephi 19:23). This may be the most important interpretation of the allegory of the Olive Tree. Each of us is the tree. In this context, we see ourselves and our lives in this remarkable allegory. The Lord chooses a certain spot in His vineyard to plant us. Some places are better than others. But He knows where we will have the best chance to grow and bear fruit. He nourishes us. He digs in the soil around us so the nourishment will sink in. Sometimes He has to prune us. Sometimes He transplants us to a different part of His vineyard. Sometimes He grafts in branches from another tree or takes some of our branches to strengthen another tree. Sometimes He has to cut out and burn some dead wood. But all the time, He loves us, watches over us and does all He can to help us bear fruit. When we bring forth wild fruit, He weeps and asks, “What more could I have done for you?” But He will always take us back. Even when we bear wild fruit, He continues to nourish and care for us. He gave His Son for us. He continues to hear our prayers, send us blessings, counsel and guide us. He promises that one day we may be with Him and return to our Heavenly Home. We are the trees of His vineyard. Each of us is precious to Him. How blessed we are to be planted in His vineyard!
Story of the Currant Bush
President Hugh B. Brown, a former member of the First Presidency, told the story of a currant bush and its application in his life. The story was recently retold by Elder Christofferson and made into a “Mormon Message.” Here is the link: https://youtu.be/Rr8xvw0cgw0
Pres. Brown learned that our Father is the gardener. He knows what He wants us to be. Sometimes He may have to, like the Lord of the vineyard and His olive tree, cut us down or prune us to give us the opportunity to become all that we can be, to become what He wants us to be.
This is the message of the Zenos Allegory. Our Father in Heaven, the Lord of the Vineyard, is the gardener of our lives. He knows us, loves us and has a plan for us. He is intimately involved in our lives. If we trust Him, He will make much more of us and our lives than we could ever do so on our own. It is a powerful message!
Chapter 6
Dividing the Book of Mormon into the chapters we now have is somewhat artificial and happened nearly 50 years after the Book was published. (Actually, there were chapters in the first printing of the Book of Mormon, but the divisions were quite different from the editions since the 1870s. I think it was one of the Pratt brothers who did the chapter and verse divisions we use now.) In the Book of Jacob, chapters 4, 5 and 6 are actually one sermon. In chapter 4, Jacob introduces the Allegory of the Olive Tree by asking the question, how is it possible that these, after having rejected the sure foundation, can ever build upon it, that it may become the head of their corner? (4:17). Chapter 5 tells the story of the Allegory of the Olive Tree in answer to this question. Then in Chapter 6, Jacob comments on the Allegory and shows how it answers the question. He briefly reviews some of the key parts of the story of the Olive Tree and then concludes with the statement,
How merciful is our God unto us, for he remembereth the house of Israel, both roots and branches; and he stretches forth his hands unto them all the day long; and they are a stiffnecked and a gainsaying people; but as many as will not harden their hearts shall be saved in the kingdom of God. (v. 4)
This is the answer to the question – the Lord of the Vineyard will not give up on His tree. Our Father in Heaven will not give up on His children. Even the Jews, after rejecting the true Messiah and giving Him to the Romans to be crucified, can still be saved in the kingdom of God if they will not harden their hearts. He will always take them (and us) back.
Jacob goes on to apply the message of the Allegory to his people. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I beseech of you in words of soberness that ye would repent, and come with full purpose of heart, and cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you. And while his arm of mercy is extended towards you in the light of the day, harden not your hearts. (v. 5)
Jacob’s message is the same to us today. O then, my beloved brethren, repent ye, and enter in at the strait gate, and continue in the way which is narrow, until ye shall obtain eternal life. (v. 11)
Repent and be baptized! His message is the same as that of Peter on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:38), Alma at the Waters of Mormon (Mosiah 18:8-10) and the Savior Himself when He appeared to the Nephites after His resurrection (3 Nephi 11:37-39). It is the message of prophets through the ages. It is the message of our current, living prophet. It is Jacob’s message to us. It is my message to each of you – Have faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ and His atonement; repent regularly and sincerely; enter the covenant path through the strait gate, the waters of baptism, and renew those covenants weekly at the altar of the sacrament table; strive constantly to truly “receive the Holy Ghost” and endure cheerfully, productively and obediently to the end. This is how we build on a sure foundation.
O be wise
Jacob concludes his sermon with an interesting plea, O be wise; what can I say more (v. 12). He is a no-nonsense guy. He has given us the formula. He now encourages us to be wise enough to recognize it for what it is. What more can he say?
Pres. Ballard gave a classic conference talk using this verse as his theme. The link is: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2006/10/o-be-wise. This talk is filled with his typical wisdom and good counsel. He gives us six ways in which we can serve both wisely and well.
Jacob says farewell
Like Nephi before him and like Mormon and Moroni after him, Jacob says farewell to his readers and promises that I shall meet you before the pleasing bar of God (v. 13). Like Moroni, who thought he would not be writing more in the plates but returned some 20 years later to write the book that bears his name, Jacob thought he was finished writing on these plates. But an experience happened which changed his mind. Let’s go on to Chapter 7 and find out why he “came out of retirement” to write more on the Small Plates.
Chapter 7 – Sherem, the anti-Christ
Some years have passed. Jacob is now an old man. A man comes among them named Sherem. He is an anti-Christ. Where did Sherem come from? Was he one of them? If so, he is related to Jacob and part of the family. But he says that I have sought much opportunity that I might speak unto you; (v. 6). He sounds like a stranger. Did he come from the Lamanites? Or did he come from some other group of people living in the area? We don’t know. The Book of Mormon doesn’t claim that the descendants of Lehi and Ishmael were the only people living in area where they landed and were now living. There may have been several migrations to the Western Hemisphere of which we have no record in the Book of Mormon.
The Book of Mormon video for this chapter showing the interaction between Jacob and Sherem is very good! I highly recommend it. In it, you will see Jacob, now a venerable, aged prophet, with a powerful testimony and confidence in what he knows. And you will see hot-headed, sign-seeking, Sherem who accuses Jacob of leading the people astray by teaching about Christ and not following the Law of Moses. Jacob confounds Sherem with his powerful testimony. Hard hearted as he was, Sherem asks for a sign and gets one. He is struck down. He eventually knows that he will die and on his death bed confesses that he had been deceived by the power of the devil (v. 18) to teach that there would be no Christ. It is a powerful and tragic story. Here is the link: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/video/jacob-7/2019-10-0700-sherem-denies-christ-jacob-7-1080p-eng.
There are three classic anti-Christs in the Book of Mormon. Sherem is the first we encounter. We will later read about Nehor (Alma 1) and Korihor (Alma 30). Each of these deceived and deluded false prophets seeks to draw people away from Christ. Each has been deceived and taught what to teach by Satan. Perhaps when we get to Korihor later this year we’ll take more time to compare each of these anti-Christs. But for now, just a couple of comments about Sherem.
They all have some common characteristics. For one, they are all good speakers, have a good knowledge of the language and use flattery to influence the people. Are there any people like that in the world today? Politicians? Internet critics of our Church? Former members who have left the Church but can’t leave it alone? We need to be careful. The Savior warned, Take heed that no man deceive you; … And many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many; (JS-Matthew 1:5, 9) There are many voices in our world. Some are very convincing. We don’t always have well-researched answers for all the questions they raise. We may feel intimidated, less informed or not as eloquent as they. But we can feel in our heart when a man or woman is speaking the truth or lies. The Spirit will confirm the truth of what someone teaches or the absence of the the Spirit will let us know that it is not true. And we can look at their lives. The Savior said, Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. (3 Nephi 14:15-16)
In addition to his facility with words and the use of flattery, Sherem uses a classic but flawed argument against Christ. No man knoweth of such things; for he cannot tell of things to come (v. 7). And yet he goes on to say that I know that there is no Christ, neither has been, nor ever will be. (v. 9) Do you see the flaw in his argument? If no man knows of things to come, then how does he know that Christ will not come? Duh!
Sherem also shows another characteristic of anti-Christs then and now. They want to see a sign. They want tangible proof recognizable by their physical senses and then they will believe. But signs come by faith, not by the will of men, nor as they please, but by the will of God. (D&C 63:10) Faith comes first, then signs, if it is the will of God to give them. Critics of the Church want signs. They want absolute archeological proof of the Book of Mormon peoples, of the use of steel, of horses, etc. in Book of Mormon times, and so forth. Answer one question and they have a dozen more. They want signs and claim that then they will believe. But it doesn’t work that way. Ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith. (Ether 12:6)
By the way, the Savior also said A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign (Matthew 16:4). I suspect this was true of Sherem as it is of many sign seekers. Personal immorality often creeps into the lives of those who oppose the work of the Lord.
Jacob’s Lament
With the perspective of even more years, Jacob concludes this epilogue to his record on the plates with an interesting and heart-wrenching lament.
… the time passed away with us, and also our lives passed away like as it were unto us a dream, we being a lonesome and a solemn people, wanderers, cast out from Jerusalem, born in tribulation, in a wilderness, and hated of our brethren, which caused wars and contentions; wherefore, we did mourn out our days. (v. 26)
Each time I read this, my heart goes out to Jacob. His parents and Nephi are gone. His older brethren (except for Sam) are his enemies. He has been an exile, a wanderer, a displaced person all his life. Sometimes I feel a little that way in this world – a wanderer from my heavenly home, a stranger in a strange land. Sometimes, I just want to come home. But there are still lessons to learn and good to be done here. I’ll get to go home soon enough.
Brethren, adieu!
Jacob closes with an expression of farewell and well-wishing which Joseph Smith, using the language available to him, translated using the word adieu, which has it origins in the French language. Critics of the Book of Mormon have pointed to this as a flaw in the book. There is no way that Jacob could have known the word adieu, which would be part of a language that would not be developed for nearly 2000 years after his time. They are right, but do you see the flaw in their argument? There is no way that Jacob could have known any of the words used in the Book of Mormon as we have it. None of them had been developed until hundreds of years after the Book of Mormon plates were written. But the Book of Mormon wasn’t originally written in English or French. It was written in Reformed Egyptian – the Hebrew language using Egyptian hieroglyphic characters. It is interesting and sad how Satan will do anything he can to divert and distract people from the message and power of the Book of Mormon. I remember talking to someone, a recently returned missionary, who was really troubled by the use of the word adieu in the Book of Mormon. His whole testimony of the Book, the Gospel and the Church was shaken. He was ready to through it all away because of this one word. What a shame that so many fall for Satan’s diabolical tactics!
Goodbye, Jacob
As I said in my last blog post, I have somehow always related to Jacob. Maybe it is because he is the younger brother to a much more famous older brother. Maybe it is because of his feelings of being a wanderer. Hopefully, some of it is because of his love for the Savior and desire to do what is right. Thank you, Jacob! I look forward to seeing you before the pleasing bar of God (v. 6:13) to thank you for your faithfulness, for your testimony of the Savior and for your powerful writings and sermon. Lord bless you, good brother, until we meet some day!
Have a good Sunday!
It’s now Saturday as I finish writing this blog post and send it to you. Tomorrow will be the second Sunday for us as Church members in which we will have our worship service in our own homes. I was gratified to hear the accounts of our eight children, each of whom is married, and of their good experiences in their homes having “church” in a family-centered worship service. For most, if not all of them, it was a sacrament meeting (by permission of their respective bishops). I was also touched to read on the Chester Ward FaceBook page of the experiences of several families, including some families of only one faithful Saint, who had meaningful worship experiences in their own homes last Sunday. And I was touched and grateful to learn of a young father, a member of the Church for less than a year, who blessed the sacrament for the first time and did it for his family in his home. Another good brother, also a relatively new member of the Church, blessed the sacrament for his family after not doing so for some time. I suspect there are stories of small miracles like these and others that happened all over the Church last week as faithful Saints followed the prophetic directive to continue their sabbath observance and worship in their own homes without attending services in a church building.
I hope you have a good sabbath tomorrow. We don’t know how long these restrictions will last. I hope not too long. And I hope it will never become common place or that we will ever become casual or complacent about the opportunity to worship in our homes with those we love most. I’m sure the Lord is pleased when we turn our hearts to Him and honor His holy day, regardless of where we are or our individual circumstances. He understands and is with us. He has said, where two or three [or even one] are gathered together in my name, as touching one thing, behold, there will I be in the midst of them—even so am I in the midst of you. (D&C 6:32).
May He always be with you and your family! I pray.
Faithfully, your brother,
Richard
